APT Sound Testing under-take hundreds of sound tests on building conversions throughout the capital every year. Many of the sound tests we undertake are typically the conversion of existing 3 storey houses in flats, i.e. from one house into 3 flats.

However, we are now seeing an increase in the amount of office blocks being converted into dwellings. When offices are converted into dwellings we often undertake sample sound tests to check the existing sound levels prior to the commencement of works, once we have established the sound tests results we can then come up with a more cost-effective design to comply with Part E of Building Regulations.

Historically we have found that if the floor structure is a typical 200mm concrete slab the sample airborne results are coming close to the requirements of Part E without any modifications to the existing slab; however, the impact results are poor.

This is because the airborne sound is broken down by the mass of the concrete slab, therefore sounds such as speech & TV etc. are minimised. Unfortunately, impact sound test results are poor due to the lack of isolation within the slab, therefore the sound travels straight through the slab to the area below. Sound such as people walking can be very loud and unacceptable.

Using our extensive knowledge regarding the way different materials and construction methods can influence the results of sound testing we can offer easy-to-follow acoustic advice on the most awkward developments.

If you are having problems with your building’s design or simply require some friendly advice please contact us now by visiting the APT Sound Testing website, calling us at 01525 303905, or emailing us at info@aptsoundtesting.co.uk.

The internal environment of new or refurbished buildings can pose a health risk to occupants via the emission of harmful pollutants from materials utilised as part of the construction, fit out and finishing works, such as paints and furnishings that’s why we need Indoor Air Quality Testing.

Many people are not affected by short-term exposure to the low levels of VOCs found in buildings; however, some people can be more sensitive, such as people with asthma or allergies. Research is ongoing to better understand any health effects from long-term exposure to low levels of VOCs.

How indoor air quality testing can help to reduce exposure to VOCs

In most cases, you can best avoid exposure to VOCs by controlling their source. This can be undertaken by the use materials and products that do not give off VOCs. And adequate indoor air quality testing throughout the duration of the works.

Such examples are listed below.

• Ensure you have a suitably trained operative with calibrated air quality testing equipment to check that the air quality levels are safe via ongoing indoor air quality sampling.
• To reduce VOCs, select paints and varnishes that are labelled as containing low VOCs
• Do not allow smoking in or near your office. Second-hand smoke contains many pollutants, including VOCs
• Minimise the use of scented products such as aerosol deodorizers and candles/incense
• Where possible store furnishings and building materials for at least a few weeks. This will allow gases to be given off before you bring them into your office. If this is not possible, increase the ventilation by opening windows and doors in the building wherever possible.
• Ensure contractors store paints, cleaners and solvents in a separate room like an outdoor shed or in areas with proper ventilation and ensure lids are kept on unless in use.
• Ensure contractors remove all old or unnecessary tins or bottles that contain products with VOCs from the workplace. Do not throw unused products away ensure they are safely and properly disposed.

New carpets/carpet tiles can effect Indoor Air Quality

• If glues are required to bond the carpet to the floor, only select those suitable for indoor use
• Ensure operatives leave the area throughout the duration of the carpet installation.
• During the installation, try to ventilate the area as much as possible using fans and opening doors and windows. Continue to ventilate for several days after installation until the smells have gone.
• Double check the air quality by undertaking ongoing indoor air quality testing.

Adequate Ventilation:

• Ensure you get enough fresh, clean air into your building by opening windows and doors.
• Increase ventilation prior to bringing new VOC sources into your building such as new carpets, furniture, or drapes. Open doors, windows and skylights wherever possible.
• Follow manufacturers COSHH labels. If the label says “use in a well-ventilated area” go outside or to an area where an exhaust fan or open window provides extra ventilation throughout. In all instances ensure adequate ventilation is provided throughout the works and rest period.

We are the Indoor Air Quality Testing Experts

APT Sound Testing has a large amount of experience in the provision of BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Testing services. This ensures we are able to address all elements of indoor air quality testing. We have supported a wide range of BREEAM projects within the commercial and industrial sectors. These have included hospitals, health centres, laboratories.

Please get in touch with a member of our engineering team today at info@aptsoundtesting.co.uk or 01525 303905 to find out more about how we can help with the indoor air quality testing aspect of your BREEAM development or visit our case studies to review recently completed projects such as The Annexe (Imperial War Museum) and The Heals Building in Central London.

If your scheme is registered with BREEAM you may require indoor air quality testing to fulfill the requirements of the ‘Health and Wellbeing’ credits, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our specialist team today to find out how we can help you achieve the extra BREEAM credits associated with Hea02 for indoor air quality (VOC) testing.

Extra BREEAM Credits for Hea 02 ‘Indoor Air Quality Testing
The internal environment of new structures and/or refurbished buildings, although newly developed can pose a health risk to occupants. This can occur as a result of the emission of harmful pollutants from materials utilised as part of the construction, fit out and finishing works, such as paints and furnishings. In addition to materials, improperly designed ventilation systems can lead to a build-up of airborne compounds. Collectively these issues can cause a deterioration in the quality of internal air and lead to adverse health effects for those exposed.

Trying to achieve the criteria set out in Hea 02 ‘Indoor Air Quality’ facilitates an active approach to reducing internal pollutant concentrations during design, construction and completion. This minimises emissions and potential exposure to harmful indoor pollutants such as VOC’s and Formaldehyde. As a result, improving the internal environment of a development should improve the health and wellbeing of its occupants.

BREEAM-Indoor-Air-Quality-Test equipment

The new updates to BREEAM Hea02 Air Quality Credits
The emissions from construction products credit have been updated to amend the emission standards against which building products must be compared. This will increase BREEAMs applicability and ease the process of identifying compliant products. Lastly, the total volatile organic compound (TVOC) concentration criteria against which post-construction monitoring must be compared has been increased from 300μg/m3 to 500μg/m3 over the 8-hour period. This change is likely to allow consistency with the criteria and bring it in line with the American WELL building standard, which has gained popularity throughout Europe over the last couple of years.

BREEAM-Indoor-VOC-Air-Quality-Test equipment

We are the Indoor Air Quality Testing Experts
APT Sound Testing has a large amount of experience in the provision of BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Testing services. This ensures we are able to address all elements of Hea 02 ‘Indoor Air Quality. We have supported a wide range of BREEAM projects within the commercial and industrial sectors. These have included hospitals, health centres, laboratories.

Please get in touch with a member of our engineering team today at info@aptsoundtesting.co.uk or 01525 303905 to find out more about how we can help with the indoor air quality testing aspect of your BREEAM development or visit our case studies to review recently completed projects such as The Annexe (Imperial War Museum) and The Heals Building in Central London.

APT Sound Testing has been providing indoor air quality services such as post-construction air quality testing and indoor air monitoring for a number of years.

We have assisted many customers in gaining their BREEAM and other compliance credits through our air quality plan and BREEAM air quality testing services.

As well as helping you to gain your initial (BREEAM) credit, by testing the indoor air quality our engineering team is then able to produce a bespoke indoor air quality plan.

Our plans are able to provide you with the following benefits:

Advice on removal of contaminant sources
Dilution and control of contaminant sources
Procedures for pre-occupancy flush-out
Informative checklist to help you prepare for the third party testing
Third party testing and analysis
Advice on maintaining Indoor Air Quality In-Use

Our Services to attain extra BREEAM points for Indoor Air quality under BREEAM Hea02

There are two defined stages for achieving extra points under BREEAM Hea02. The first stage is the air quality plan and the second stage is indoor quality testing. here is a quick explanantion for each stage.

Stage 1 – BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Plan
The BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Plan reduces the risk of health deterioration and building performance by improving indoor air quality for the end user. It makes assurances in the design stage of a project which plan for the existence of ventilation, equipment and construction materials which improve indoor air quality for the buildings occupiers.

Stage 2 – BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Testing
Your project must be nearing completion, including a fully operational HVAC system, before Indoor Air Quality Testing can be carried out. The sampling identifies the presence of volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), including formaldehyde.

Where the levels of these compounds are found to exceed the prescribed limits, to claim the BREEAM credit it must be identified that appropriate measures have or will be undertaken in accordance with the IAQP and the consultant’s report recommendations to reduce the levels to fall within the limits.

We can undertake all your BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Testing requirements
Here at APT Sound Testing, we have significant experience in carrying out post-construction Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) testing. We are familiar with the stringent methods that are specified under BREEAM Hea02, Home Quality Mark (HQM) and other compliance standards. Our team will always provide a firm quotation and helpful checklist to help you prepare for the testing, prior to us visiting site to carry out this work.

We will ensure that all post-construction testing is carried out to the relevant standard that you are looking to achieve as specifications do vary.

When undertaking Indoor Air Quality Testing for BREEAM, we will typically test for Formaldehyde and TVOC in the air but can easily include other pollutants if required. We will normally sample rooms which will be occupied for long periods of time, for instance offices, hospitals and offices. It is important to make sure that a sufficient number of these rooms are tested in order to gain the relevant credit.

Our tasked team will make sure that all post-construction air quality tests are carried out in accordance with the very exacting BREEAM Hea02 methods. Our expert team will also provide free advice and guidance to your project manager to help to create the correct environment for the air quality tests as we have found over this years this to be very important.

To help you prepare for your Post Construction Air quality testing, please download our Indoor Air Quality Checklist.

Need to add a BREEAM Indoor Air Quality testing checklist

What happens after the indoor air quality test?
After the indoor air quality test, we will send you a detailed test report testing report. This shows you which gases are present within your building, and where they are likely to have come from. Where we can, we will tell you what you can do to improve the air quality.

It is essential that testing for Formaldehyde and VOCs is carried out to the specified BREEAM Hea02 exacting standard required on your project. All test samples must be analysed in a UKAS accredited laboratory and may take 1-2 weeks to arrive back at our office.

Call or email us today about Indoor Air Quality Testing. We are here to help!

Call us on 01525 303905 or email us at info@aptsoundtesting.co.uk about our Indoor Air Quality Testing services. We are here to help! Alternatively, please visit our contact page here.

Is your project registered under the BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) scheme? If so, APT Sound Testing’s  Indoor Air Quality Consultants can help your project to achieve credits and reach a desired BREEAM rating. Take a look through our specialist BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Testing services to find out more.

BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Assessment Services

The criteria of BREEAM Health and Wellbeing subcategory Hea 02 ‘Indoor Air Quality’ and Pollution subcategory Pol 02 ‘Local air quality’ require the knowledge of an Indoor Air Quality Test company to carry our Hea 02: Post-construction Indoor Air Quality Testing.

If your project requires indoor air quality testing, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team who can discuss your requirements in more detail or visit our Indoor Air Quality Testing services page.

Why Should you Seek Credits Associated with Hea 02 ‘Indoor Air Quality

The internal environment of new or refurbished buildings, can pose a health risk to occupants. This can occur as a result of the emission of harmful pollutants from materials used during the construction and finishing works, such as sealants, paints, and furnishings. The building can also be compromised by improperly designed ventilation that can lead to a build-up of airborne compounds.

Collectively, the odours and poor ventilation, can lead to a deterioration in the quality of internal air and lead to adverse health effects for those exposed, such as shortness of breath, fatigue, headaches, nausea, dizziness, and skin problems as well as eye, nose and throat irritation. Higher concentrations may be even more problematic causing irritation of the lungs, as well as damage to the liver, kidney, or central nervous system. Long-term exposure may also cause permanent damage to the liver, kidneys and/or central nervous system. That’s why it’s essential that Indoor air quality testing is carried out prior to building handover.

What is BREEAM Hea 02 Indoor Air Quality?

BREEAM Hea 02 ‘Indoor Air Quality’ details an approach to reducing internal pollutant concentrations during design and construction phases of a project. This minimises potential emissions and exposure to harmful indoor pollutants, which leads to the improvement of the internal environment of new and refurbished buildings along with the health and wellbeing of its occupants.

For further information, please read our latest BREEAM guidance blog, along with our BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Test Page.

Indoor Air Quality Test Experts

APT Sound Testing has a large amount of experience in the provision of BREEAM Indoor Air Quality Testing services. This ensures we are able to address all elements of Hea 02 ‘Indoor Air Quality’. We have supported a wide range of BREEAM projects within the commercial and industrial sectors. These have included projects such as the British Museum and the Heals Building in Central London.

Please contact a member of our IAQT team today on info@aptsoundtesting.co.uk to find out more about how we can help with the indoor air quality aspect of your BREEAM project, development, call us on 01525 303905 or visit our case studies to review recently completed projects such as the Heals Building in London.

APT Sound Testing under-take hundreds of sound tests on building conversions throughout the capital every year. Many of the sound tests we undertake are typically the conversion of existing 3 storey houses in flats, i.e. from one house into 3 flats. However, we are now seeing an increase in the amount of office blocks being converted into dwellings.

When offices are converted into dwellings we often undertake sample sound tests to check the existing sound levels prior to the commencement of works, once we have established the sound tests results we can then come up with a more cost effective design to comply with Part E of Building Regulations.

Historically we have found that if the floor structure is a typical 200mm concrete slab the sample airborne results are coming close to the requirements of Part E without any modifications to the existing slab; however, the impact results are poor. This is because the airborne sound is broken down by the mass of the concrete slab, therefore sounds such as speech & TV etc. are minimised.

Unfortunately, impact sound test results are poor due to the lack of isolation within the slab, therefore the sound travels straight through the slab to the area below. Sound such as people walking can be very loud and unacceptable.

Using our extensive knowledge regarding the way different materials and construction methods can influence the results of sound testing we can offer easy-to-follow acoustic advice on the most awkward developments.

Contact APT Sound Testing
APT Sound Testing undertakes sound testing on all types of residential buildings and commercial buildings. We also undertake sound testing on schools and buildings containing rooms for residential purposes.

Our team of experienced sound test engineers is dedicated to giving our customers the best quality of service and offers acoustic design advice where possible, to help our clients achieve the required acoustic results to pass the sound testing and attain building completion. We can also undertake ‘in-house’ UKAS accredited air tightness testing in one seamless package, lowering costs and negating coordination issues.

If you are having problems with you building’s design or simply require some friendly advice please contact us now at 01525 303905 or visit our Sound Testing services website.

We at APT Sound Testing often get asked the following questions in regard to sound testing.

Do detached properties require sound testing?

No. Only attached properties require sound tests.

Are internal walls/floor between rooms within a single dwelling tested?

No. Laboratory test-based performance standards (Rw) exist for certain internal walls and floors but they are not intended to be verified as-built by on site measurement.

What is the difference between Rw and DnT,w?

DnT,w is an in-situ measured performance parameter that demonstrates the level of resistance to sound transmission between two adjacent spaces (both direct sound transmission and flanking sound transmission will contribute to the measured performance). Rw is a performance parameter that describes the level of sound transmitted through a single element, such as a wall, floor, door or window and it is measured in a laboratory where flanking sound transmission is negligible. The DnT,w of a separating wall or floor will typically be of the order 5 to 7 dB lower than the specified Rw for the single element, due principally to the contribution from flanking sound transmission around the element when it is built on site.

How much sound insulation testing is needed?

Approved Document E 2003 states that one set of sound tests is required for every 10 units in a group or sub-group. A group or sub-group is defined where significant differences in construction or layout occur.
Houses – a set of tests would usually comprise two airborne sound insulation tests of a separating wall
Flats – a set of sound tests would usually comprise: two airborne sound insulation tests on the separating wall; two airborne sound insulation tests of a separating floor; two impact sound transmission tests of a separating floor

Rooms for Residential Purposes (student accommodation, hotel rooms, care homes etc) – a set of tests would usually comprise: one airborne sound insulation tests of a separating wall; one airborne sound insulation test of a separating floor; one impact sound transmission test of a separating floor.

How are plots selected for testing?

The building control officer, warranty provider or other concerned parties may require you to carry out sound tests in specific areas or plots. However where this has not been stipulated we can advise accordingly. Where this is determined in advance of the testing, it should ideally be checked with the concerned party. Tests are usually conducted between pairs of rooms, so adjacent plots will be required.

Methodology

How is a sound insulation test carried out?

Airborne sound insulation test – A controlled noise is generated by an amplifier and loudspeaker across a broad range of frequencies on one side of a separating wall or floor and the noise level is measured in decibels (dB) using a sound level meter. Measurements are also made on the opposite side of the separating wall/floor (i.e. in the neighbouring dwelling) in order to determine how much of the controlled noise being generated in the source room is transmitted through to the receiving room.

Impact sound transmission test – A calibrated tapping machine which comprises 5 metal ‘hammers’ driven up and down by a cam and electric motor, is used to simulate footfall noise on the floor surface. The resulting noise is measured in the neighbouring dwelling below, using a sound level meter.

What is reverberation time?

For both airborne and impact sound tests, the reverberation time (the time taken for sound to decay) is measured in the receive room and forms part of the calculation of the sound insulation performance.

If you would like more information in regards to sound testing please contact us at info@aptsoundtesting.co.uk or call us on 01525 303905.